Means for lubricating locomotive-cylinders.



R. M. LICKLEY.

MEANS FOR LuBRlcATlNG LocoMoTlvE CYLINDERS.

APPLICATION HLED OCY- 2111915.

R. M. LICKLEY.

MEANS FOR LUBRICATING LOCOMOTIVE CYLINDERS.

APPLICATION FILED 0m21.191s.

1 88,79 v "Patented June 27, 191,6.

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RALPH M. LICKLEY, OF EAST CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN G. TALMAGE. OF

- CLEVELAND, OHIO.

MEANS FOR IJUBRICATING LOGOMOTIVE-CYLINDERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 7, lfb l t.

Application filed October 21, 1915. Serial No. 57,192.

proper lubrication inthe cylinders of locomotives when the engine is'running with the throttle closed. At such periods, as is well known,.the piston acts as a pump tending Vto create a vacuum and draw into the cylinder products oi' combustion from the stack which char the lubricant and cause troublesome deposits in the cylinders.

My invention provides a simple automatic valve and piping for locomotives which en ables steam in proper quantity to be automatically fed to the cylinders when the locomotive is running by gravity or momentum withthe throttle closed, thus preventing the formation of vacuum, preserving the lubricant which is already in the cylinders, and further lubricating the pistons with the steam thus supplied.

A further object of my invention is to enable the steam which I supply to the cylinders when the throttle is closed to carry the lubricating'oil intermingled with it.

A still further objectisr to enable the oil so supplied to also lubricate the automatic valve which controls the admission ot the.,

steam.

The -drawings illustrate my invention in a preferred form. A A h Figures l and 2 are. respectively a plan and a side elevation of a locomotive equipped with my'invention, the .lubricating parts being shown in full lines-and the general structure of the locomotive i Olten line.4 Fig. 3 is an end elevation. of the yli'nder, steam `chest and associated parts5ffthis view being -tmlken at thel'enr of the `right hand .cylinder looking forward, with the heads ot' the cylinder and steam chest removed. and the dry pipe. and the pipes communicating with the automat-ic lvalve broken away. Fig. t is a. vertical section along the axis of the auton'latic valve.

As shown in the drawing, A indicates the boiler, B ,the steam dome, C the throttle valve. D the throttle lever connected therewith, E the dry pipe leading from the steam dome to the steam chest F which contains the distrilmting` valve, and G the cylinder, these. members being illustrative of the correslionding parts in any locmnotive.

In'each of the views. l() indicates the casing oi' my automatic valve. This casing is suitably connected with the steam chest and adapted to. discharge thereinto. As shown, the fasing has an extension 11 at its lower portion which is externally threaded and may thus screw into a suitable boss f carried by the wall of the steam chest.' The casing has a lateral tubular extension providing an intake 12, and between this intake and the exit passage 13, is an annular valve seat la controlled by a disk plug '20. The eX- tension 'l2 is connected with the source of steam supply independently of the throttle. For this purpose' I have shown a pipe S0 se* cured by a coupling 3l to the casing eXten sion l2, and at its other end connected with the steam dome B.

I prefer to provide an automatic valve on each steam chest, each of which is *fed bya pipe 30, and it is convenient to bring these two pipes together to a T connected with or forming part of any suitable shut-off valve 32 which is in communication with the interior of the steam dome. This shut-off valve is normally open, but may be closed Awhen the locomotive is run into the round-house.

The position ot' the disk 4plug 2O with reference to the seat 14 determines the admission of live steam through the pipe 30 to the steam chest. This plug is controlled by the pressure conditions in the steam chest in such manner that` the automatic valve remains closed in normal running of the en-l gine, but, when the pressure inthe chest dropsv to av certain predetermined amount (which is still above the atmospheric pressure) the plug rises and admitslive steam to 5. the chest, thus preventing the formation of vacuum and thus preserving the lubrication in the cylinder. The valve construction which enables this automatic pressure-operal tion will now be described. The valve casingv 10 has above' the inlet 12 a cylinder 15 and above this a larger cylinderl 16, the top of the casing being closed by a. suitable cover 17. lVithin the cylinder is a piston 21 and within the cylinder l6 is a larger piston 22, both of these pistons being rigidly connected with the valve plug 20. The connection shown consists of an axial vstem 23 which has an axial opening 24 extending through it from end to end. The piston 21 is slightly 4larger than the disk 20, while the piston 22 is materially larger than the piston 21. The vpistons are provided with any usual packing, and a suitable vent 18 is provided bef tween the pistons to allow the escape ofv any 25 steam passing the packing. By reason of the slightly larger area of the piston 21 over the disk 20, it will be seen that the live steam constantly admitted to the entrance 12 tends slightly to raise the valve plug from its seat. Steam chest pressure acting up- Wardly on the under side oiv the valve plug also tends to raise it, but this same fluid under pressure passing upwardly through the opening 24 acts downwardly on the greater `area of the piston 22. The excess of this areapver the area of the plug is materially greater than the excess of the piston 21 over s that plug. Accordingly,\the normal steamchest pressure causes a downward pressure 40 on the plug and pistonvmember much greater than the upward pressure of the live steam in the pipe 30, and therefore the valve is held seated. Now, whenthe throttle is closed, the' pressure in the steam chest rapidly drops, and, when it reaches the desired minimum (preferably a few pounds per square inch above the atmosphere), the effective downward pressure' has been so reduced that it is more than counter-balanced by` the -boiler pressure acting upwardly against the smalll excess of area of the piston 21. Accordingly, at this point the piston and plug memberv rises and. live steam is 'admitted from the pipe 30 past the plug into the steam chest. This'live steam prevents the formation of a va'cuum,"and the consequent deterioration of the lubricant, and also itself lubricates the engine pistons.

Ther piping provided and the passageways of -my valve are preferably of such size that sufficient steam maybe fed, as vdescribed, to the cylinders to prevent the formation of a vacuum when the locomotive is running at its highest permissible speed with the throttle closed. As the speed is reduced the pressure will rise in the steam chest, and this pressure, beingtransmitted throughthe central passageway 24 to the top of the larger valve piston 22, acts to move the valve plug in the closing direction, thus reducing the supply and correspondingly vreducing `the pressure. Accordingly, the effect i's to maintain the valve withv such an opening as will supplythe desired amount of steam to the cylinders irrespectiveof the speed.

It has been foundV that lubricating oil admitted with steam is morel effectivelyd istributed than if admitted in a continuous liquid stream. vTo enable the oil to be so admitted with the steam supplied by my attachment, and to `enable this oil to perform the further functionjfof lubricating the automatic valve, I `prefer to connect the regular lubricating pipe ofthe locomotive with the automatic valve, and feed the oil continuously to the .valve chest through the tubular opening at the axisof the automatic valve. The lubricationfeed referred to'is shown in the. drawings, wherein 40. designates the usual lubricating pipe of the locomotive. At its upper end this pipe is connected with a suitable pressure lubricator 41 which is connected by a pipe 42'with` the top of the boiler'underthe control of a shutoff valve '43. I simply disconnect thefo'rw'ard end 'of this pipe y40 from the lsteam vchest and connect it to the top of the automatic valve. A suitable choke is provided limiting the quantity of oil supplied, and this choke may conveniently be located in anipple between the pipe 40 and` the top of the valve casing. This is the construction shown'in Fig. 4, wherein 45' is the nipple screwed into the valve cover and having a reduced bore at 46 and at its upper end connected by a flange coupling 48 to the pipe 40.

irrespective of whether the automatic valve be open or closed, the boiler Vpressure acts on the lubricatorand forces the oil through the. pipe 40 @and through the choke 46, so that a' small quantity continuously passes through the bore 2 4into the valve chest. This oil becomes scattered in thel chamber above the piston 22 and thus results inl the'lubricatin of that piston and the piston 21. In ordinary running under pressure, the steam from the dry pipe E enters the valve chestl at'the side of the entrance from the automatic valve, and thus this live. steam catches the oil and distributes it. When the throttle is closed the steam entering the, pipe 30 and passageway 13 also catches this oil and effectively distributes it.

Reference is hereby" made to my copending application No. 57,191on a valve, filed concurrently herewith. for claims on the in `ternal construction of the' particular auto matic valve shown in Fig. 4;

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Having thus described my invention, what I-claim is:

l. In a system for lubricating locomotive cylinders, the combination with a steam chest and boiler, ofvan automatic valve connected with the steam chest and having a connection with the boiler and adapted to open or closel communication between said connections, a lubricatorn connected with the boiler, and a discharge pipe from the lubricatork connected with the automatic valve.

- 2. The combination, with the steam chest and boiler of a locomotive, of an automatic valve `connected with the steam chest, a supply pipe for the automaticl 'i valve connected with the boiler, a lubricator connected with the boiler, a discharge pipe from the lubricator connected with the automatic valve, and means whereby the automatic valve is opened consequent upon reduction in pressure in the valve chest. v

3. In a system for lubricating locomotive cylinders, the combination with a steam chest and boiler, of an automatic valve connected with the steam chest and having a connection with the boiler, said automatic valve having a valve plug and an operating piston thereforja lubricator connected with the boiler, and a discharge pipe from the lubricator connected With the .automatic valve. i

4. The combination, with the steam kchest and boiler of a locomotive, of an automatic valve connected with the steam chest, a supply pipe for the automatic valve connected with the boiler, said automatic valve being adapted to open or close communication be` tween said supplyr pipe and steam chest, a lubricator connected with the boiler, a discharge pipe for the lubricator connected with an automatic valve, and apassageway inan automatic valve adapted to transmit lubricant to the valve `chest whether the aiitomatic valve be opened or closed.

5. The combination, with the steam chest and boiler of a locomotive, of an automatic valve having a casing secured to the steam chest, a pipe connecting the automatic valve with the boiler, a valve plug between the en trance for such pipe-and the discharge'into the valve chest, a pair of pistons of different area adapted to cause the valve to'reniain seated in normal running but to be lifted' from its seat consequent upon the reduction in pressure in the valve chest to a predetermlned minimum, a tubular opening through vsuch pistons and valve plug, a lubricator connected with the boiler, and a discharge pipe for the lubricator discharging into the casing of the automatic valve.

6;. The combination with a steam chest and boiler of a locomotive, of an automatic valve having a casing connected with `the steam chest, a pipe connecting the automatic valve with the boiler, a valve plug between the entrance for such pipe and the discharge into the valve chest, means for causing the valve to remain seated in normal running but to be lifted from its seat consequent upon reduction in pressure in the valve chest to a predetermined minimum, a discharge conduit from the lubricator to the automatic valve, and a choking device in said conduit.

7. The combination `with a steam chest and boiler of a locomotive, of an automatic valve having a casing secured to the steam chest, a pipe connecting the automatic valve with the boiler, a valve plug between the entrance for such pipe and the discharge into the valve chest, a pair of pistons of different area one above' the other and connected with the valve plug and adapted to cause the same to remain seated in normal running but to be lifted from its seat consequent upon the reduction in pressure in the valve chest to a predetermined minimum, a tubular opening through such pistons and valve plug, a lubricator connected with the boiler, a discharge pipe for the lubricator discharging into' the casing ofthe automatic valve above the upper piston, and .a choking device in the conduit from the lubricaor to the interior of the automatic valve.

8. In a lubricating system, the combination with a cylinder, valve chest, dry pipe, throttle and boiler of a locomotive, of an automatic valve connected with the steam chest andwith the boiler independently of the throttle, said automatic valve having 'an internal valve seat between its admission pipe and the valve chest, a plug for said valve seat, a piston connected with the plug onthe opposite side of the admission to the automatic valve, said piston being slightly larger than the plug, whereby the live-steam pressure tendsto unseat said plug, and means for enabling the normal steam chest pressure to seat the plug.

9. In a lubricating system, the conibination with a cylinder, valve chest, dry pipe, throttle and'boiler of a locomotive, of an automatic valve connected with the steam chest and with the boiler independently of the throttle, said automatic valve having an internal valve seat between its admission pipe and the valve chest, aplug for said valve seat, av piston connected with the plug on the opposite side of the admission to the automatic valve, said piston being slightly larger than the plug, a still lai-gel piston connected with said plug, and a passageway for enabling,- the steam chest pressure to act on the larger piston in the direction to seat theplug. Y

10. In a lubricating s vstein. the cou1lunation with a cylinder, valve chest. dry pipe, throttle and boiler oi a locomotive, of an automatic valve connected with the steam soy chest and with the boiler independently of the throttle, said automatic valve having an internal valve seat between its admission pipe and the valve chest, a plug for said valve seat, a' piston connected with the plug above the admission to the automatic valve, said piston being slightly larger than the plug, aV still larger pistonconnected with said plug vabove the piston first mentioned,

there being a tubular opening through the 10 pistons and plug leading from below the plug to a point `above'the larger piston, whereby steam chest pI/Jessure may act down'- wardly on the largenpiston.

In testimony W signature.

RALPH M. LIoKLEi.Y

091 of this patent may be obtained torbtlve cents each, by vaddressing the Commissioner et Patents'.

Weshington, D.

of, 'I hereunto aiiix my y 

